In an instant, everyone held their breath.
The room was extremely quiet, not even a breeze stirred.
Gods are gods because they can lift people to glorious heights with a wave of their hand, and kill them invisibly with another.
The Little Monk asked tremblingly, "Is there going to be a gas leak? Or a fire next door? Or a sudden earthquake?"
"Or maybe..." the Little Monk continued, looking shakily towards the window, "a murderer will suddenly jump in with a chainsaw and saw us all to pieces?"
The Old Monk scolded lightly, "What nonsense are you talking?"
As he finished speaking, however, two streams of blood slowly trickled from the Old Monk's nose.
Looking at the others, their eyeballs were also somewhat bloodshot.
What kind of power was this?
Invisible, yet able to give people an extreme sense of oppression.
If it weren't for the fact that everyone standing here had strong inner fire and was constantly in the company of Buddhist scriptures, making it difficult for evil spirits to possess them, the evil gods might have chosen someone to possess.
"Jiujiu, come here," Bai Yuhuai called softly.
Yin Mo behind him opened his mouth almost simultaneously, but didn't manage to speak first.
Jing Jiujiu was still crouching there, he didn't feel much of anything.
Two evil gods placed before him were not as terrifying as Toshio from Kayako's house.
Jing Jiujiu picked up a red string from nearby and tied the two statues together.
Everyone: ??
Jing Jiujiu murmured, "That should do it."
Saying this, he finally stood up and retreated to Bai Yuhuai's side, turning his head to whisper to him, "If you still can't control it later, just hide behind me."
Bai Yuhuai's eyelid twitched, feeling as if someone had forcefully stuffed a sweet fruit into his chest.
The Old Monk spoke up from behind, "What kind of method is this? This isn't the red string of the Matchmaker, tying them together won't make them bow to heaven and earth! This will only anger them!"
Meanwhile, Bai Yuhuai was still speaking softly to Jing Jiujiu, "You'll stand in front?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Mm." "Didn't you say I was very powerful?"
"You are very powerful. But the combined force of two evil gods, you can't withstand it. If by chance it's during their peak period, once they erupt, it will scatter your soul to the winds."
Jing Jiujiu finally frowned a bit.
"So..." you should stay behind me.
Before Bai Yuhuai could finish his sentence,
Jing Jiujiu said, "But we can't let that happen, you're human, you'll die. This thing is coming for me. If my soul really scatters... I'm already a ghost anyway."
His tone was rather calm, not at all like something someone his age would say.
Behind them, the Little Monk and Old Monk couldn't hear clearly what they were saying, they just kept wiping blood from their noses.
Master Tingyi finally couldn't help but show a worried expression, "Indeed, it's most fearsome if the two evil gods join forces... Better step aside and let us handle this. Bring out the Diamond Sutra!"
Jing Jiujiu finally turned his head, "They won't join forces."
Tingyi paused, "Hm? Why do you say that?"
Jing Jiujiu pointed at the statue resembling the Four-Faced Buddha, "It's from abroad."
Tingyi: ?
The Little Monks also stopped reaching for the Diamond Sutra.
They quickly understood Jing Jiujiu's meaning.
Both statues began to glow and shake, the tea table beneath them exploded. But the fragments didn't fly far, they were firmly confined within that area. The statues fell, entangling with each other, you entangling me, I entangling you, amidst the fragments, shining even more brilliantly.
There was still no wind indoors, everything was as silent as if the air had congealed.
Bai Yuhuai moved his lips, "They've already started fighting."
Tingyi exclaimed, "What?!"
The evil god from the castle was indeed quite pissed off at this moment.
After discovering it was the other party who had cast the curse, although his anger flared, he quickly realized that there were many monks here, each of whom had practiced cultivation techniques. To fight to mutual destruction first, then face them, wouldn't that be asking for trouble? So he quickly suppressed his anger.
"I don't care what era you were molded in, we'd better deal with these bald donkeys in front of us first, then settle our grudge."
"..."
"You want that young man? No way. I can let you enjoy the souls of all the others."
"..."
"Damn it! Stop throwing curses at me!"
Finally, he was certain that the other party simply wouldn't listen, reason, or cooperate.
Was the other party even an evil god?
It was a lunatic.
As soon as their divine consciousness touched, they immediately clashed apart.
Following that, they fought even more fiercely.
The fake Four-Faced Buddha sneered inwardly: No wonder that beautiful ghost is so tempting, besides me, there's another evil god eyeing him. Want to snatch him from my hands? How dare you desecrate the dignity of a god! Die, just die...
The divine powers of both sides collided.
Curses were frantically thrown at each other.
But because gods need people to worship them, meaning only when people make wishes before the statues would their power be exerted to the fullest.
For the time being, neither could do anything to the other.
The terrifying aura spread out in all directions, yet these humans didn't even shiver.
The castle's evil god was even more enraged.
Both sides had killed until their eyes were red, using their divine consciousness to pin down the opponent and beat them violently.
A large amount of divine power was drained away along with the curses cast.
The light on the two statues gradually dimmed.
Tingyi: "..."
Tingyi: "Is this... a language barrier?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Mm-hmm."
They stood quietly like this for a while, until the two statues completely fell silent.
A Little Monk asked softly, "Are they dead?"
Tingyi shook his head, "How could gods die? They can only perish when the last believer in this world forgets them. Apart from that, other methods can hardly kill them. They've just temporarily lost their divine power. After being nurtured for some days, they can recover."
The Little Monks and Old Monks looked at each other with complex expressions.
Who could have imagined?
Even the statues suffered from not learning a foreign language!
They had long been prepared to sacrifice themselves, who knew everything would end so lightly?
The Little Monks and Old Monks hurriedly wiped away their blood. At this moment, the sense of stagnation and heaviness in the air had also disappeared.
Everyone let out a light breath.
Yin Mo pressed his lips together, looking at Jing Jiujiu and Bai Yuhuai with a complex expression. They were still huddled together. While he seemed to have been of no help at all.
"Jiujiu..." Yin Mo spoke up.
But Lin Zhi recovered her spirits even sooner, hurrying to Jing Jiujiu's side, "Jiujiu, you're amazing!"
Bai Yuhuai raised his eyes to look at him.
Ice cold.
Lin Zhi seemed to sense something and finally stepped back a bit.
Master Tingyi came forward, managing to squeeze out a sentence from his throat, "Today... we must thank young master Jing."
If he remembered correctly, the youth's name was Jing Jiujiu, right?
After speaking, Tingyi bent down to pick up the two evil god statues from the ground, "I'll take these things away first."
Bai Yuhuai calmly interjected, "Bring them into the temple? Aren't you afraid the gods and Buddhas in your temple will kick you all out along with them?"
"Then what does Mr. Bai suggest?"
"Leave them here."
"That won't do, how can we leave such dangerous things with you?" the Old Monk became anxious.
Bai Yuhuai: "Do you know what price two statues with evil gods residing in them can fetch?"
Tingyi immediately looked at him warily, "What do you mean by that?"
Bai Yuhuai lowered his head, leisurely wrapping his tie back around his neck as he said, "After I'm done using them, they will lose their divine power. When I hand them over to you, you can completely sell them on the black market."
Tingyi righteously said, "Absolutely not!"
The Old Monk also echoed from behind, "That's right. Selling evil gods, wouldn't that be letting them harm people again? Even if they've completely lost their divine power, as long as there are believers, there will always be a day when they recover. We won't do such a conscienceless thing."
Bai Yuhuai: "One evil god statue can sell for 80 million."
The Little Monks and Old Monks were stunned upon hearing this.
Bai Yuhuai: "And this one, imported from abroad, can sell for 90 million. You won't even have to pay taxes."
Tingyi: "...After careful consideration, I think Mr. Bai has a point. Tell us, what do you want to do with these statues? Is there anything we can help with?"
The castle's evil god: ...
Although he had temporarily lost his divine power, he could still hear the surrounding voices clearly.
Why was he still a million cheaper than that stupid thing?!
Damn it!
The evil god felt an intensified hatred for that useless Jing Tinghua in his heart! If he hadn't been so utterly worthless, how could things have come to this?
The fake Four-Faced Buddha couldn't understand what they were saying, but it was also extremely angry.
It needed to restore its divine power quickly.
It wanted to extract more power from all those who had ever worshipped it!
In the end, Bai Yuhuai didn't explain why he wanted to keep the statue.
The monks were exhausted by now, having traveled a long dusty road without rest upon arrival, and now having lost quite a bit of blood. So they temporarily refrained from further questions and turned to ask Yin Mo: "Where are we staying?"
Yin Mo immediately called to book a hotel, but was told that nearby places were fully booked.
The film city was at its peak filming period, surrounded by various large and small production crews. They didn't even have enough accommodation for their own people.
Jing Jiujiu spoke up: "Thank you all for your hard work today."
Everyone was startled and turned to look at him.
For a moment, they still found it a bit difficult to adjust - a fierce ghost looking like this, able to politely thank them.
Jing Jiujiu asked softly: "How about I treat everyone to a meal? Would you like to eat fish and shrimp?"
The Little Monk responded dazedly: "You mean, like seafood? I've never had that before."
Jing Jiujiu nodded: "There are also vegetarian options nearby."
This was because Master Zhou had treated them to a meal, and they had discovered it on their way back.
The Little Monk was drooling: "Let's eat, eat, eat!"
The Old Monk looked a bit embarrassed: "What do you mean, eat? Young monks are not allowed to eat meat or fish."
Jing Jiujiu: "The restaurant has a vegetarian crab dish, golden in color, delicious in taste..."
The Old Monk: "... Is this restaurant far?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Not far at all."
The Little Monk also asked quietly: "Is it expensive?"
Jing Jiujiu: "It's not expensive. I'll pay."
Yin Mo couldn't bear to listen anymore.
How much had Jing Jiujiu talked with them already?
Yin Mo: "Are we going or not? If not, I have something to say to Jing Jiujiu."
The Old Monk: "Let's go!"
With that, they picked up their belongings and strode out the door briskly.
It was only then that Jing Jiujiu approached Bai Yuhuai again, asking softly: "Was it... to let me take revenge?"
Bai Yuhuai: "Mm."
The young man wouldn't have to act personally, wouldn't have to bear the name of a father-killer, yet could let the Jing family taste double the pain, suffering torment before walking towards their originally destined fate.
But the evil god's methods of harming people were truly cruel and cold-hearted.
When the time came and Jing Jiujiu saw it, would he be unable to bear it?
Jing Jiujiu sighed softly by Bai Yuhuai's ear: "That evil god told me. Among the Jing family, you're the one I like the most."
Bai Yuhuai's eyelid twitched, his chest tightened, and for a moment he couldn't quite tell what kind of feeling it was.
Bai Yuhuai: "Is that so?"
The two words came out of his throat, and even he didn't know what kind of tone it was.
Jing Jiujiu said: "This statement is very strange."
It's not strange.
Bai Yuhuai said softly in his heart.
Everyone would like you.
"An evil god, he doesn't need to pay attention to any Jing family members. The reason he compared me to the Jing family, I think, is that the so-called 'Jing family members' in his mouth might refer to people like me who have been offered to him generation after generation by the Jing family," Jing Jiujiu shared his speculation.
Bai Yuhuai's thoughts were suddenly pulled back.
Rationality returned, his mind clear.
Bai Yuhuai pursed his lips: "...That's possible."
Jing Jiujiu sighed softly again: "That really is... no matter what the outcome will be in the future, they deserve it."
Outside the door, the Little Monk asked quietly: "Why haven't they followed us?"
The Old Monk: "I don't know."
The Little Monk: "What if we get to the restaurant and can't pay? Will we have to eat steamed buns again today? Can we have some Lao Gan Ma chili sauce with it? Ten yuan can last for eight days, you know."
Yin Mo: "..."
Yin Mo: "...I have money."
But he still turned back to look inside the door: "Jiujiu?"
With one glance, he saw Bai Yuhuai slightly turn his body, drawing Jing Jiujiu into his embrace.
Yin Mo's brows furrowed even tighter as he quickly turned and walked back, calling out softly again: "Jiujiu."
Bai Yuhuai quickly released Jing Jiujiu.
"Let's go."
Jing Jiujiu was dazed for a second: "...Mm."
Why did Bai Yuhuai suddenly hug him?
Was it because he looked a bit sad for that moment?
Actually, I'm not that sad anymore, Jing Jiujiu said quietly in his heart.
Meeting Bai Yuhuai, he had successfully left the ancient castle, achieving his wish. Although a cruel truth had been revealed, at least he was a ghost who understood things now. Now that the evil god had been found, the Jing family was in trouble. He only had one thing left to do.
Jing Jiujiu clasped the bracelet tightly: "Mm, let's go!"
Yin Mo gazed at the vague atmosphere of intimacy between the two. He suddenly recalled the flowers they had brought when visiting the hospital last time.
How could Bai Yuhuai have bought flowers to give him?
Those flowers must have undoubtedly been bought by Jing Jiujiu. But it was Jing Jiujiu buying them for Bai Yuhuai's sake.
Yin Mo turned his head away awkwardly, no longer pondering in detail.
He quickly walked out, urging the monks: "Hurry up. They're coming."
In the end, they still went for a real seafood feast.
The Old Monk fingered his prayer beads and said: "In ancient times, 'meat' referred to strong-smelling seasonings... We'll be fine as long as we don't eat wasabi." This was something they weren't used to eating anyway.
The Little Monk raised a crab leg and also spoke: "The people here are so nice."
Of course they were nice.
Yin Mo was leading the way in front, while Bai Yuhuai was walking at the back.
The restaurant owner and servers here might not recognize the former, but they definitely knew the latter.
People had even joked online before, saying that Bai Yuhuai's national popularity was so high and his fan base so enormous that if you went to a strange place and met a hundred people, among those hundred, there would always be a few who were Bai Yuhuai's fans.
After Jing Jiujiu sat down, he whispered: "That server keeps looking at you. Is she your fan?" Jing Jiujiu marveled: "You have so many fans."
Bai Yuhuai had heard such praise many times, but hearing it again at this moment still made him feel a subtle joy.
Jing Jiujiu looked at Bai Yuhuai's clothes and asked: "It's okay if this gets dirty?"
"Mm, the crew has multiple spare sets."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh."
He paused before speaking again: "You look quite good dressed like this, standing tall. ...The patterns on your face look good too."
The young man's tone was so casual, yet it gently pierced Bai Yuhuai's heart.
So one person's praise really could make someone happy beyond control.
"It's just... the color seems to be fading a bit," Jing Jiujiu said, reaching out to dab it.
His fingertip quickly left a small golden mark.
Just a fleeting touch.
Bai Yuhuai's heart still skipped a beat.
He responded softly: "Mm."
Jing Jiujiu was very curious about all these things. Since he couldn't eat human food, he just chattered away to Bai Yuhuai.
At one point asking if these things would damage the skin if left on the face for too long.
At another asking what other impressive roles Bai Yuhuai had played.
Bai Yuhuai answered each question, his heart beating faster and faster.
He didn't know why he felt this way.
He just remembered that when Jing Jiujiu only asked him about Meng Hexin, but resolutely didn't ask what he had acted in, his heart had been beating cold and steady, with no other reaction.
...
By the time the meal was over, Bai Yuhuai had barely eaten a few bites.
Xu Sanyu came with a car to take them back to the hotel.
Naturally, Yin Mo continued to look for a hotel.
The Little Monk licked his lips on the way: "I think this ghost is very good. I've never seen such a good ghost before..."
The Old Monk was speechless: "When you grow up and leave the mountain in the future, won't people easily deceive you?"
However, having eaten their food, the Old Monk no longer mentioned catching ghosts.
They searched for who knows how long, and in the end, it was another small production crew that temporarily gave up a few rooms.
But when they went in to look...
Peeling wallpaper, unusable shower heads, even the blankets smelled of mildew.
The Little Monk mumbled: "Senior Brother really must be begging for food outside, right?"
The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.
Everything seemed as if nothing had happened.
There was no ominous wind rising from the ground, nor was anyone's face being gnawed on again.
The guide was still shaken, but the show had to go on.
When Guan Yan woke up, his whole body felt cold and weak, but upon repeated checks, nothing seemed to be wrong. He dragged himself to the film set, where the assistant director, seeing that he had been hit yesterday, advised him to go back and rest for another day.
Guan Yan seized the opportunity and immediately said, "I'd like to take a day off in two days."
The assistant director's face turned green: "What do you need to do that day?"
Guan Yan smiled: "Attending a gathering." He refused to say anything more.
Guan Yan was determined to go.
He had already heard from his agent that before he fainted that day, he was sitting in front of that young man. It was possible that Bai Yuhuai had used some sort of spirit to cast a spell on him.
The agent told him that his family was in an uproar because of a relocation they hadn't told his brothers and sisters about. As a result, his mother had fallen from upstairs and broken her leg.
He didn't have time to go back and deal with his mother's leg right now. If his siblings kept causing trouble, he could just make another wish to the deity statue.
Guan Yan had it all planned out, and then he turned to go rest.
He was about to soar to great heights, so there was no need to suffer Bai Yuhuai's mistreatment here anymore.
The assistant director watched Guan Yan leave just like that, feeling quite speechless, and immediately went to report to the director.
"Here, Brother Guan, be careful." The assistant helped Guan Yan back to his hotel room.
"Alright, you can go now," Guan Yan said coldly.
He didn't want these people to take advantage and worship his deity statue.
The assistant acknowledged and left.
Guan Yan turned around and was suddenly shocked.
"Where's my deity statue?!"
Jing Jiujiu was still sitting at the film set, watching Bai Yuhuai act.
He had a small backpack on.
The backpack was bulging, containing two deity statues tightly wrapped in diapers and red string.
It felt safer to carry these things around.
Even the old monk would have to admit it was bold.
Who, no, even ghosts, few would dare to do this.
Two days later.
Guan Yan, full of determination, first attended the banquet, then quickly signed a contract with DG, and got the script from Director Cheng. After that, he felt more at ease and continued to urge those around him to find the bald monks in the surveillance footage!
It was them who took his things!
Seeing Guan Yan's face turning increasingly ashen, his agent couldn't help but say, "Brother Guan, we have everything now, don't worry too much."
Guan Yan: "I know."
He frowned and asked his agent, "Do I look imposing now?"
After saying this, Guan Yan muttered to himself, "Isn't this how Bai Yuhuai always is? He's actually bad-tempered, unapproachable, with no connections in the entertainment industry. Yet his fans can still praise this as being imposing."
Guan Yan pushed open the car door and got out.
He adjusted his tie, and as he walked down this road again, he felt his mindset had suddenly changed.
He walked straight up to Jing Jiujiu.
Jing Jiujiu, without thinking, instinctively reached back to touch his small backpack. Oh, they were still there. In the short term, it would be difficult for the deity statues to possess anyone else.
Guan Yan smiled slightly: "Is Bai Yuhuai still filming?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Mm-hmm."
He felt that the man before him had undergone a subtle change. Previously, no matter how much he disliked Bai Yuhuai, he would still call him "Brother Bai" in public, but now he had started calling him by his full name.
Guan Yan stared at the young man's obedient appearance, sighing inwardly.
He could finally understand Bai Yuhuai's feelings.
When a man becomes successful, he always likes to further demonstrate his status through certain things. Just like how beauties complement heroes, and luxury cars and fine wines complement rich people.
Bai Yuhuai keeping the young man by his side was probably more about showing off how powerful he was, that he could keep such a young man as his little lover.
Guan Yan curled his fingers, casually revealing the gemstone ring on his finger: "Have you ever thought about changing to someone else?"
Jing Jiujiu: ?
The evil god in the backpack: What kind of dog dares to try and snatch his offering!
The fake Four-Faced Buddha: Isn't this the voice of that idiot who made a wish to him?
"Who do you think you are? Even I don't dare to talk to him like that." A voice sounded from nearby. Guan Yan turned his head to see Yin Mo striding over.
Yin Mo pulled up a chair, sat down next to Jing Jiujiu, and called out softly: "Jiujiu." "Let's talk."
Guan Yan was startled: "Mr. Yin?"
Although Guan Yan was now extremely arrogant, he instinctively still didn't want to offend Yin Mo. He stood up and moved to the side, staring at these two from behind.
How was this young man also connected to Mr. Yin?
Could it be... he was even cuckolding Bai Yuhuai?
Now that would be interesting.
As Guan Yan thought about this, he started smiling happily to himself, then took out his phone and began checking the trending topics. He rarely trended in a year. No way around it, he didn't have a massive fan base like Bai Yuhuai.
But soon, he would be trending, right?
Guan Yan refreshed tirelessly.
However, he first came across a Weibo post from Yin Mo at 1 AM.
Yin Mo: [Picture] Finally found it.
The accompanying image was just a silhouette in the dark night. Probably because the environment was too dark, the figure wasn't very clear.
But Guan Yan still recognized it.
It was a young man.
Behind the young man's sailor collar hung two long rabbit ears.
It was Bai Yuhuai's little lover!
Guan Yan felt a moment of fear in his heart. Why did Yin Mo specially post about him on Weibo? Were their relationship really that unusual?
But then he thought, if that were really the case, wouldn't Bai Yuhuai truly be cuckolded?
Guan Yan laughed out loud with glee.
His finger slipped, and Weibo refreshed again.
#Was the Rose Banquet actually a Sea Sky Banquet? Multiple guests arrested#
Followed closely by another:
#DG refuses to apologize for insulting China#
Guan Yan couldn't laugh anymore.
...
[Intimidation progress bar 3 - 30%]
[Congratulations to you and your host for successfully intimidating human xn and capturing two powerful unknown entities. The reward will be doubled again, and the Ghost King title is about to drop]
[Dropping... Dropping failed]
[You are 1213 kilometers away from your host]
The prompt, which had been slow and laggy for a long time, finally sounded again, startling the little robot.
My host is... is awesome.
The little robot stared blankly at its worn-out legs.
On its cold, mechanical face, countless chaotic electrical currents surged. For the first time, it began to doubt whether it had a very wrong perception of itself.
Wuwuwu, I was wrong, I think I might be the useless one!